[Deck] Imperial Painter

Congrats on the finish.

The Sharpshooter is teetering on the brink of the sideboard as it stands. He's been fantastic against Survival variants because of how fast you can get him in play. Ultimately, though, I've included him as a killer of smaller green creatures to prevent Progenitus from coming into play sooner. As it stands, he is certainly not going to be staying in the main list.

Figure of Destiny has pretty much become almost like the new MVP of the deck (for me, anyways). Every time I drop him into play he milks a Swords. And what is most cool about him is yes, you can Imperial Recruiter for him, but you can also drop him that turn because of his one-drop cost. He also gets big really fast and can be a bomb late game with all that extra mana sitting around.

As for decks that pack the Natural Order, it can be hard for Imperial Painter to stop it once it actually happens. This is why I've decided to run Ensnaring Bridge and Anarchy in my sideboard. Once they actually get Prog into play, these are the most efficient ways in dealing with him (other than combo-ing out yourself).

What I've essentially done is cut the Pyroblasts, Dragon Whelp, and SoLaS for a more aggressive intervention. With the inclusion of Enlightened Tutor, you can now essentially fetch for all the pieces of the combo as well as sideboard artifacts.

The Goblin Welder in my list will end up taking the spot of Sharpshooter. What will end up happening is subbing out one Mountain for a Great Furnace so that I can Enlightened Tutor for it or switch it with a Goblin Welder if need be. It makes the deck slightly more susceptible to Waste-hate, but I've also included several fetches to off-set that potential threat.

You should post your sideboard Hollywood. I definitely like the idea of Ensnaring Bridge in this deck once you've got the ability to tutor it up. That's really interesting about the Figures of Destiny too. The fact that they eat up the opponent's removal or sit there threatening to get bigger seems pretty good. With 4 though, aren't there enough times where you don't have the colored mana to pump them? Whatever the case, you gotta love these 1cc critters that can be Recruited and played immediately. I'm doing that with Welder a lot lately. Oh, and speaking of that, what about Mother of Runes in your build?

This is currently the sideboard I use for Imperial Painter:

[3x] Anarchy
[3x] Pyrokinesis
[2x] Sword of Light and Shadow
[2x] Faerie Macabre
[2x] Tormod's Crypt
[2x] Trinisphere
[1x] Ensnaring Bridge

Really, Enlightened Tutor has provided me with some fantastic options in troubleshooting problems more thoroughly. I like its versatility in the deck. I even thought of upping the count of Anarchy to four at one point.

With this new build it's not entirely out of the question in "white-washing" everything in play. I recently had a remarkable comeback against Enchantress. The guy had a ridiculous amount of permanents in play, and because of dropping all his lands with Exploration, he had nothing left in his hand after I named white and destroyed everything in play. Having the ability to push the reset button at your leisure is a very powerful asset.

@Hollywood: If you are only going to play one, isn't pyroblast better than REB? Since I have been running bridges it has come into play being able to actually cast Pyroblast without a Painter, although it doesn't do anything, just keep your hand size down if you have to. Also, is lightning bolt any good? I didn't think it was when I started with this deck and was dropped quickly. I doubt you use is for reach very often but maybe with Figures that is different. If it's for the critters, then Magma Jet or STP might be better, although I don't like the idea of playing too many white cards with no way to play them under moons sans chrome mox. When do you board in Sword of Light and Shadow? I've added a couple of Anarchy in the SB as well since I have lost to Humility more than a few times...

@Drew: I'd play a couple more fetches with the tops.

@both: Do you guys think this deck NEEDS SSG?

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Originally Posted by B0W53R

@Hollywood: If you are only going to play one, isn't pyroblast better than REB? Since I have been running bridges it has come into play being able to actually cast Pyroblast without a Painter, although it doesn't do anything, just keep your hand size down if you have to. Also, is lightning bolt any good? I didn't think it was when I started with this deck and was dropped quickly. I doubt you use is for reach very often but maybe with Figures that is different. If it's for the critters, then Magma Jet or STP might be better, although I don't like the idea of playing too many white cards with no way to play them under moons sans chrome mox. When do you board in Sword of Light and Shadow? I've added a couple of Anarchy in the SB as well since I have lost to Humility more than a few times...

@Drew: I'd play a couple more fetches with the tops.

@both: Do you guys think this deck NEEDS SSG?

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Anarchy is just amazing. Since placing it in the sideboard, I've found myself more and more wanting to draw into it. It has completely turned the tides in some fierce battles with decks packing cards like Progenitus, Moat, Humility, etc. It has now become a staple of the sideboard given the repercussions the cards listed above have on the game-state.

Sword of Light and Shadow comes in against similarly aggressive decks that pack cards like Swords and the sort. It helps beef up your creatures and gives you life when playing against decks packing annoying burn. It's better to have your opponent spend a Swords or burn spell on your Imperial Recruiter in response to an equip rather than Painter or Jaya.

Speaking of Jaya, she's been more of an Ace in the hole when it comes to Ensnaring Bridge. She's really multilateral with it out, being able to: Incinerate, destroy permanents, and discard cards from your hand keeping the Bridge good enough to halt an attack.

A lot of people have actually dropped Lightning Bolt from their versions of the deck, and that is fine. One of the problems the deck faced without it was dealing with an early Lackey or being able to knock off Tarmogoyfs after they've been dealt damage. Not to mention they're fantastic against more serious threats like Dark Confident, Birds of Paradise (very serious problem when dropped turn one - that kind of an advantage is not good when you don't have your combo in the early goings), and etc. I tossed it up against Swords to Plowshares, and I actually liked having Bolt better because it also helps serve as a finisher.

I've never played this deck, so apologies if this is a bad plan, but has anyone tried a blue splash (in a welder version) for intuition? The concept is somewhat like Hollywoods interesting white version, but intuition can search up any common cards, with welder it can get silver bullets, and also can represent a one card kill (get 2 painter and 1 grindstone, or vice versa. Get grindstone into play, grind on the stack and weld in painter). It is obviously more mana intensive than enlightened tutor, but avoids card disadvantage.

It might also allow thirst for knowledge, as I've always wondered if the deck suffered from lack of draw spells. But I can't immediately see what one would cut for this. I'll leave that to those who know what they're talking about with this deck!

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Originally Posted by Cacks

I've never played this deck, so apologies if this is a bad plan, but has anyone tried a blue splash (in a welder version) for intuition? The concept is somewhat like Hollywoods interesting white version, but intuition can search up any common cards, with welder it can get silver bullets, and also can represent a one card kill (get 2 painter and 1 grindstone, or vice versa. Get grindstone into play, grind on the stack and weld in painter). It is obviously more mana intensive than enlightened tutor, but avoids card disadvantage.

It might also allow thirst for knowledge, as I've always wondered if the deck suffered from lack of draw spells. But I can't immediately see what one would cut for this. I'll leave that to those who know what they're talking about with this deck!

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There are some versions of Imperial Painter out there that contain a blue splash for just that sort if thing. More the less, people tend to splash blue for Trinket Mage and miscellaneous draw effects (i.e. Brainstorm, Ponder, etc.). I've really only posted my list that runs white because I find it most effective in the current general competitive metagame. Blasts are certainly an effective means (combined with Painter's Servant) of handling just about any threat that comes your way, but I really felt the list needed to be a little more aggressive rather than defensive in its approach.

When you step back and take a look at what decks/cards that specifically pose a threat to Imperial Painter are, you'll find the majority are white. This again brings me back to how good Anarchy is. I've also found myself naming "white" occasionally to reset the board with a well-timed Anarchy. You might be wondering why I would do such a thing; destroying your own permanents isn't all that great, right? Well consider this:

You find yourself trapped in a situation you cannot get out of. You're staring down threat after threat and your opponent has made it crystal clear his or her intentions, which is to say, overwhelm you with obstacles. All you need to do is save some lands and/or Moxen. Now, when you drop something like Figure of Destiny after a mass-Anarchy, that can be a serious problem for an opponent really fast, because he can get big really fast, see what I mean?

The trick was to find the most powerful, undercosted creature for this particular deck with the substitution of Pyroblasts, and he fits the bill nicely. Adding blue to the deck doesn't do a whole lot except change the general approach to how you'd play the game. You try blue, by all means. It's just in my experience with this deck blue just seems to beat more around the bush than really pressing the issue of punishing an opponent faster than Red with a small white splash.

I mean, if you want to tutor for something, that's what the Enlightened Tutor is there for: One mana, instant, grabbing just about every useful artifact in the deck for you. Intuition is good, and it fits the curve, problem is there are many ways to kill each creature in the deck and all you're really doing is implying, "Hey, look: I just knocked off two more copies of this card for you so you don't have to deal with it anymore". That's not all entirely true, but to a large extent. Enlightened Tutor does essentially the same thing because in general the only thing you want to get is either the Painter or Grindstone, and that's also why you run Imperial Recruiter - to get those creatures you need right there and then.

@ Hollywood: thanks - an excellent explanation! Can I just ask one other thing, are you happy sitting down vrs the rainbow of counterbalance / blue decks? One would presume this deck is designed to stomp on them, but if that is the case, why does one not see more numbers being put up for the deck? I suspect the answer may be the simple costs of Recruiters! Finally, what do you fear facing? Sorry for the barrage of questions, but I am intrigued by the deck!

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Originally Posted by Cacks

@ Hollywood: thanks - an excellent explanation! Can I just ask one other thing, are you happy sitting down vrs the rainbow of counterbalance / blue decks? One would presume this deck is designed to stomp on them, but if that is the case, why does one not see more numbers being put up for the deck? I suspect the answer may be the simple costs of Recruiters! Finally, what do you fear facing? Sorry for the barrage of questions, but I am intrigued by the deck!

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Imperial Painter is a very expensive deck to play with and has those four particular cards that are very hard to find. The truth is, the deck doesn't get a whole lot of numbers put up because not everyone has the cards to play it. And honestly, it takes a great deal of skill and planning in order to play Imperial Painter. You really have to be multilateral in your approach to how to begin the game whether you're on the play or the draw.

I've had a great deal of success with it because I did a lot of play-testing with the team. It's a really fun deck to play once you get the cards for it.

I've rarely had a problem against decks packing CB. Three-CC cards are a little more difficult to counter and Jaya works great against it. There are also the obvious Blast effects.

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@Drew: I'd play a couple more fetches with the tops.

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At first, I was thinking the same thing, and so I tried the deck with 4 fetches. But I found that the deck uses Top in ways that, many times, want access to mana withOUT having to reshuffle. While you might sometimes use Top in an all-out search, this deck uses Top a significant amount of the time to merely stack the top 3 cards. For example, let's say it's after your draw step, you have Servant out and use Top to find Blast, Grindstone, and whatever else at the top of your library. You'll probably want Blast on top, so you can pop SDT and grab it if you need to protect your Painter, and Grindstone right beneath Blast. Of course, if you do end up popping the top for Blast protection, and the only available red mana you have is a fetchland, then you're forced to reshuffle your Grindstone away. That sort of a situation happens fairly frequently from my experience, so I've decided to limit the amount of fetches in the deck. If you see a bunch of crap with Top, there are already Recruiters and Gambles for reshuffling, and Magma Jets for scrying. Hell, even Grindstone can be used to take worthless cards off the top of your library (this is usually the sign of a painfully slow game).

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@both: Do you guys think this deck NEEDS SSG?

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In the build I use I think he's pretty important. First, because you can win games strictly off of a first turn Magus or Moon. SSG not only enables first-turn casting, but can even make a first turn Magus/Moon almost uncounterable if you have an extra SSG + Blast. SSG also allows Magma Jet to be cast on the first turn, which can be crucial against Elves, Goblins, and now, I suspect Noble Hierarch. Additionally, in a build like mine, where you have a bunch of MD Blasts, SSG means that you can tap out your lands and still surprise Blast a Counterbalance or Standstill. Finally - and this is probably not a reason SSG is needed, but it is cool - SSG means you can play around Daze in a way that surprises and annoys the hell out of your blue opponent.

I got 2nd in a tournament yesterday here in Houston with almost the same list as the one I played last week in Austin. The only difference was that I had 1 Anarchy in the SB instead of a third Pyrokinesis.

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9 Mountain
1 Mire
1 Foothills
8 City/Tomb
3 Mox
4 SSG
4 Magus
4 Recruiter
4 Servant
2 Jaya
1 Shusher
1 Goblin Welder
2 Gamble
4 P Blast
3 REB
3 Grindstone
3 Magma Jet
3 Top
SB
4 Trinisphere
3 Relic
2 Pyrokinesis
2 Blood Moon
1 Anarchy
1 Jitte
1 Shusher
1 Viashino Heretic

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I am definitely liking this list. I haven't tested many builds with splashed colors, because I hate losing due to manabase instability. And as far as mono-red builds go, this one has been the most consistent that I have played, and provided awesome flexibility. Here's a report from yesterday's tournament...

Match 1 - RGW Zoo: I was on the draw and not knowing what Joey was playing, I kept an iffy hand with a Mountain and SSG for land, a Jet, Magus, and some other stuff. He opened with a fully pumped Kird Ape, and when I did not draw another land 1st turn, I decided to Magma Jet (to the head) just to scry. I did find a City, and played Magus the following turn, but lost soon after. I sided -1 Shusher, -3 Jet, +1 Jitte, +3 Relic. Game 2 I kept another somewhat risky hand that included City, 2 SSG, Top, Servant, a Blast, and Welder. I played and used Top turn 1 with City, finding a Mox, a Grindstone and a second Blast. He played a Nactl I think. Then I played Mox, imprinting SSG, Servant and Welder. On his second turn he surprised the hell out of me and played Null Rod. That cards really sucks. So, I played Grindstone on my third turn, and passed. He bolted Servant on his turn, but I immediately Welded him back in putting Grindstone in the yard, and Blasting Rod with SSG. Now my Mox and Top were active again, and I knew there was another Blast on top of my library. I was able to pop the Top and grab it to counter a STP on my Servant still on his turn, and now he was tapped out. On my turn, I tapped Mox for mana, welded it out for Grindstone, and tapped City for the win. After seeing Null Rod, I sided again -1 Top, -1 Relic, +2 Magma Jet. Game 3 was slow. I think I started out by burning his first turn Nactl with Jet while it was still a 2/2. I followed with a Relic that ended up really shutting down his Goyfs and Lavamancers. I played a Magus got burned, took several beats from Lavamancers, but stabilized with a Servant who could block his guys. I ended up finding the combo eventually.

Match 2 - Elspeth/Humility Landstill: Game 1, I was on the play, and had a slow hand with mountains, Grindstone, Magus and Servant. I played a first turn Grindstone which resolved. His first turn was land, go. I had to pass my second turn, but luckily he did not play a Standstill or anything on his second turn. I played Magus turn 3, which got STP'd. He played Top I think. By turn 4, I had Servant and Blast in hand, with Grindstone still out, so I played Servant, and Blasted some sort of removal, and won on turn 5. I sided -3 Jet, -1 Grindstone, +1 Shusher, +1 Jitte, +2 Moon. Game 2 I beat him down to 8 under Magus, but he cleared the board with Disk (I probably overextended playing 2 Magus), and played Humility and then Elspeth. I wasn't able to come back from that. I didn't know he was running the Humility/Elspeth build, which is why I didn't side in Anarchy. For Game 3, I boarded out another Grindstone, and put Anarchy in. In Game 3 I played a second turn Blood Moon, which was countered. But my third turn Magus resolved, and really hurt him. I played Servant on turn 4, and Jaya on turn 5. Turn 6 I destroyed his only basic land, and that was essentially the game.

Match 3 - Draw with Modified Death and Taxes. Since both Jeff and I were already in Top 4, we drew. I didn't end up getting to play him, but he had a kind of hybrid between D&T and Angel Stompy. He had Angels and Tombs, but also had some of the cool D&T tricks with Magara etc.

Top 4 - Deadguy Ale: He is on the play and has a ridiculous start with double Ritual, Hyppie, and Hymn. He gets Jaya and a land, and I'm left with Mox, Servant, mountain, a red card and Grindstone. I can't remember what I drew, but I played mountain, Mox and got Servant out. Next turn he attacked and thankfully missed discarding my Grindstone. I played it on my following turn, but was still at 2 land. He then attacked again with Hyppie, and discarded the rest of my hand with Hymn. On my following turn however, I topdecked a City and won. Crazy. I sided -2 Gamble, -1 Shusher, -1 Blast, +3 Relic, +1 Jitte. Game 2 I used Tomb to get out Relic and Top on first turn. The game ended up being pretty slow. I burned an early Hyppie with Jet, played a Servant that got Vindicated, and popped all 3 Relics before it was over. Luckily I got those Relics, because he was stuck on 3 land and had a Tombstalker in hand the whole time. I ended up winning with a Magus that turned his white land off and Jaya.

Finals - ANT: I lost the die roll, which is usually the determinant of this matchup. He started with a Duress, but my hand was lands, Servant, 2 Grindstone, Mox, and Blast. He took Blast. I drew an SSG and started out with Tomb, Mox (SSG imprinted), Servant and Grindstone. He passed second turn, and I knew he had something up his sleeve, but I had to try. So I tapped to go off, but he Chain of Vapored Servant in response. So I put down a City and played him again. Unfortunately, he went off the following turn. Sideboard -1 Shusher, -2 Jaya, -3 Top, +2 Moon, +4 Trinisphere. I had a decent hand with Trinisphere, but I couldn't play it until second turn. I played mountain and passed first turn. Luckily he did not play Duress, and I played Trinisphere second turn. Turn 3 I played Servant, and he did have a third land on his third turn, and passed it back to me. At this point, I have used Tomb twice. I play a City on my fourth turn, having 2 Mountains, Tomb and City. I got really greedy here, and with Chain of Vapor fresh in my mind, I played a second Servant, and attempted to Blast one of his lands, hopiing to shut him out under Trinisphere. Of course, I guess I forgot that patience really is a virtue against combo, and he played Hurkyl's recall in response. He went off the next turn, and yes, I am an idiot.

That last match could have gone better, but the deck performed really well. Without splashing another color, I think that 2 Gambles and a Welder are perfect for this deck. All the sudden I feel like I have at least some answer for most decks in my SB, and the maindeck strategy is noticeably more consistent.

I really like 4-5 fetches. Tops make the deck much, much better, and fetches make Top better.

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I really like 4-5 fetches. Tops make the deck much, much better, and fetches make Top better.

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Generally, fetches make Top better. But in this deck specifically, (and the build I use even more specifically) I haven't found that to be the case. See post 392.

I know it´s not the normal monored build but...what do you guys think about this list? It made top8 in Bazaar of Moxen in France (475 ppl).

3 Imperial Recruiter
1 Magus of the Moon
4 Painter Servant
1 Grindstone
4 Trinket Mage
4 Tarmogoyf
4 Brainstorm
4 Force of Will
3 Pyroblast
3 Red Elemental Blast
2 Thirst for Knowledge
1 Engineered Explosives
1 Pithing Needle
1 Sensei's Divining Top
3 Chrome Mox
1 Veshing Shusher
1 Llawan, Cephalid Empress
1 Badlands
3 Flooded Strand
1 Great Furnace
4 Island
4 Polluted Delta
1 Tropical Island
1 Tundra
1 Underground Sea
4 Volcanic Island

SB:
2 Krosan Grip
2 Magus of The Moon
1 Ethersworn Canonist
1 Yixlid Jailer
1 Faerie Macabre
3 Thoughtseize
1 Relic of Progenitus
1 Tormod's Crypt
3 Firespout

I like very much the idea of recruiter with creatures like llawan (your opponent won´t play creatures anymore if painter is in play).

Thoughts?

Lots of good cards in that list. Llawan is definitely awesome with Servant.

I have seen a few multi-colored builds that I like, mainly one out of Spain that was UBR and had no Recruiter. This is the first one I've seen that is more than 2 colors and uses Recruiter. I still like to abuse early Moon effects, which backfires if you don't go mono-red, but lists like the one you posted manugl84 are much less limited in what they can play.

I played again this week with the same list as last week, and went 1-2. I beat a GR Aggro and then lost to Bant Survival and Naya Aggro. I made some mistakes and got land flooded a few times, but I was still mostly pleased with the list. Obviously taking a mono-red approach with a Stompy manabase invites more bad luck than using Brainstorms, etc.

// Lands
7 Island
3 Flooded Strand
3 Polluted Delta
4 Volcanic Island
1 Great Furnace
1 Seat of the Synod
1 Academy Ruins

// Creatures
4 Trinket Mage
4 Painter's Servant
3 Imperial Recruiter
1 Magus of the Moon

// Spells
2 Engineered Explosives
3 Counterbalance
4 Force of Will
2 Sensei's Divining Top
4 Brainstorm
3 Red Elemental Blast
3 Pyroblast
3 Grindstone
1 Relic of Progenitus
3 Daze

// Sideboard
SB: 4 Stifle
SB: 3 Tormod's Crypt
SB: 3 Phyrexian Dreadnought
SB: 3 Pyroclasm
SB: 1 Trickbind
SB: 1 Pithing Needle

Capable of a Dreadnought sideboard plan, this version is much more of a blue deck, incorporating the elements that make blue what it is today in Legacy.

Why 3 cb with only 2 sensei?

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Originally Posted by Ciberon

Why 3 cb with only 2 sensei?

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trinket mages can get it, and it's better in this deck to get grindstone or EE.

I have just recently switched to this deck from playing Faerie Stompy due to the inconsistencies. I have been testing Hollywood's list and making a few modifications here and there. I'm trying to get ready for a black lotus event and I have only been able to win one of these power events due to FS's decision sometimes to just not want to win. I do like having the Figures in the deck but i have cut the number down to 3 and cut the goblin welder/sharpshooter slot to add 2 tops. I do like the increases consistency. My main question comes in the sideboarding option. If any of this has been covered in early posts I'm sorry, I really did try to read through most of teh thread. Are only 2 trinispheres fast enough against combo. the tendrils deck that I playtest with sometimes is too fast and I have liked the added chance of magnus/trinispere first turn to slow them down. I,m sort of scared about goblins steam rolling me and so I have tried the Shard Phoenix and sometimes it is too slow and other times it really provides the time I need. Another deck I have had problems with is U/R/w painter top decks. there counters with swords really makes the match tough so I have added another shusher to the board to help push things through. Has been working allright.

@Hollywood- I saw in your post that you are in the DC area. I'm going to USUHS for medical school and thought maybe you would want to play if still in the area.

Thanks again for any help.

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I have just recently switched to this deck from playing Faerie Stompy due to the inconsistencies. I have been testing Hollywood's list and making a few modifications here and there. I'm trying to get ready for a black lotus event and I have only been able to win one of these power events due to FS's decision sometimes to just not want to win. I do like having the Figures in the deck but i have cut the number down to 3 and cut the goblin welder/sharpshooter slot to add 2 tops. I do like the increases consistency. My main question comes in the sideboarding option. If any of this has been covered in early posts I'm sorry, I really did try to read through most of teh thread. Are only 2 trinispheres fast enough against combo. the tendrils deck that I playtest with sometimes is too fast and I have liked the added chance of magnus/trinispere first turn to slow them down. I,m sort of scared about goblins steam rolling me and so I have tried the Shard Phoenix and sometimes it is too slow and other times it really provides the time I need. Another deck I have had problems with is U/R/w painter top decks. there counters with swords really makes the match tough so I have added another shusher to the board to help push things through. Has been working allright.

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sroncor1, I play with 4 Trinispheres in the SB and ANT will still just win sometimes. I wouldn't play with less than 4 3Spheres in the board though. If you really want to hate on Goblins and can spare 1 SB slot, you could run Goblin Pyromancer. And as for other PainterStone decks, I have usually approached them by boarding out 3 of my 4 Servants and waiting for them to supply the Paint. Against multi-colored build specifically, Magus is a good Recruiter target, but Jaya, Heretic and Welder have also worked well for me. While I haven't played Hollywood's RW build, I will say that Imperial Painter has been much more consistent for me than Faerie Stompy (which is pretty much the only other Legacy deck I have built right now).

Even though I haven't posted recently, I played IP the last two weekends and my mono-red build has evolved a little over that time. Two weekends ago I played this:

9 Mountain
1 Mire
1 Foothills
8 City/Tomb
3 Mox
4 SSG
4 Magus
4 Recruiter
4 Servant
1 Welder
2 Jaya
1 Shusher
7 Blast
3 Magma Jet
1 Gamble
4 Grindstone
3 Top
SB
4 Trinispheres
3 Relic
1 Jitte
2 Moon
3 Pyrokinesis
1 Heretic
1 Shusher

I made top 4 with this but lost to RWG Zoo 2-1.

Last weekend I tweaked it a little by going -3 Jet, +1 Gamble, +2 Welder in the MD, and changed the SB to be:
4 Trinisphere
2 Tormod's Crypt
1 Jitte
1 Ensnaring Bridge
2 Moon
3 Pyrokinesis
1 Heretic
1 Shusher

I got to top 4 again, but this time lost to Merfolk 2-1. I hate losing to blue decks with IP!

So I changed my build again this week and tested a bit on Wednesday. I am in California for a wedding this weekend so I won't be able to play with it in a tournament until next weekend, but here's the build I've got right now:

8 Mountain
1 Mire
1 Foothills
4 Mox
4 SSG
4 Magus
4 Recruiter
4 Servant
2 Jaya
2 Welder
1 Shusher
6 Blast
2 Gamble
2 Blood Moon
4 Grindstone
3 Top
SB
4 Trinisphere
3 Relic/Crypt
2 Ensnaring Bridge
1 Jitte
3 Pyrokinesis
1 Heretic
1 Shusher

I went back to 4 Mox because it is more ammo for Welder and I want to try maximizing explosive turn-1 plays again. Adding the 2 MD Moons goes well with this approach, and hopefully the extra Mox will help against ANT and other combo when I board in Trinispheres. I may end up missing the 7th Blast, but what I have noticed recently is that Imperial Painter can't keep up with many decks in a one-for-one threat-and-answer game. So I want to try using more permanents that apply a continuous effect on the game-state, thus the MD Moons and the extra Ensnaring Bridge in the SB.

Now that I am using Welder and Gamble to take advantage of my graveyard, I am not sure if I should be using Relics, so I have 3 SB slots that could be Crypts instead. But I love how you can keep your opponents graveyard empty the entire game with Relics, as well as the cantrip effect and the fact that you completely neuter Goyfs, Terravores etc. So I'm wondering if I can still use Relics and just play around my own Welding. Any thoughts on this?